Oranges
by BittersweetSummer
Summary: Rose Weasley loved oranges. Don’t ask him how he knew, or how he found out about it. All that mattered was that he noticed. ScorpiusRose oneshot.


_**DISCLAIMER**__**: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns it. (lucky woman.) **_

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Rose Weasley loved oranges.

Don't ask him how he knew, or how he found out about it. All that mattered was that he noticed.

No one seemed to notice the red-haired girl's obsession with the fruit, except for her family and closest friends. They teased her mercilessly about it, and she just shrugged, ignoring them.

He had held a sort of fascination for her, ever since day one, when his father pointed her out to him that fateful day at King's Cross.

_"Don't associate with those kind of people, Scorpius,"_ he'd said, not giving him an adequate reason when little Scorpius asked why he couldn't talk to them.

They seemed nice enough. But Scorpius faithfully obeyed his father, giving the Weasley/Potter family dirty looks and scathing remarks, not bothering to hide his smirk when they glared at him.

It was the Weasley girl that he loved teasing the most. Scorpius loved the way her eyes flashed when he made a remark about her frizzy auburn hair _(although he happened to think that it was rather pretty, all curly and untamable, just like her.)_ She would make an equally scathing retort back, and march away, her head held high.

It was all worth it, seeing her blue eyes piercing into his, even if hers were filled with contempt.

He loved watching her during meals. He always managed to snag a seat facing the Griffindor table during mealtimes. The Slytherin table seems miles away from her table. It represented to him the chances of ever getting close to her. Miles away, but close enough to see, just barely possible.

His friends had learned by now to not bother Scorpius during those times, when he would get moody and stare off into space, thinking about something _(or someone…)_

Scorpius noticed that every day during breakfast she would be one of the first ones downstairs, never surrounded by a giggling entourage like the other girls. She was always alone. She was an independent, unlike the girls that constantly had their friends with them at all times. It was another thing that he found fascinating about her.

Every day she would grab an orange from a nearby container and cut off the top part, where a stem would be. Then, she would start making lines from the top to the bottom of the fruit with a knife, dividing the peel into exactly six pieces, therefore making it easier to peel. She never liked peeling oranges without cutting the peel first; it was a messy job. Her fingernails would have orange peels stuck underneath them for the rest of the day.

Then she would slowly eat the orange, always savoring the flavor that came from the sometimes sweet, sometimes sour fruit. She never ate those small dinky tangerines that were available. No, it was always a large naval orange, the peel carefully cut into six pieces.

He always marveled at the routine of it. Every day, even if the house elves provided other, more exotic fruits that the others ate greedily, she ate one large naval orange for breakfast.

It continued for five years, the girl growing taller and even prettier (in his opinion), her hair never changing, her eyes darkening to navy blue.

They were both in sixth year by now, and he was sitting in his usual place at the Slytherin table, waiting for her to come in.

It was early morning, and Scorpius had woken up especially early today, and had gone to watch the sunrise. If any of his friends knew, he would be teased, but Scorpius didn't care. He liked watching the sun rise, and all the colors that came with it.

Today was Sunday, and he was one of the only ones in the room today.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Rose walked into the Hall, alone as always. She stopped suddenly, and stared at the Griffindor table in disbelief.

There were no oranges left.

Yes, there were apples and strawberries and bananas (which she hated with a passion.) But no oranges.

Scorpius smirked. He knew that he had the only orange in the room at the moment. He had asked the house elves for one this morning, but had never gotten around to eating it.

"Weasley," he called over to her, his voice carrying easily over the empty tables.

"Looking for this?" he smirked, savoring in his victory. He held up the prized fruit with a victorious air.

Her blue eyes widened, almost bugging out of her head. He chuckled at her expression, noticing that she turned Weasley red when she saw that it was him. Maybe he wasn't the only one harboring a crush…

She recovered quickly, and glared at him from three tables away.

"Like I would want whatever your dirty hands have touched," she retorted, her eyes belying her words.

She wanted that orange.

Badly.

Scorpius' eyes softened, (much to her surprise) and he threw it at her from across the room _(thank Merlin for Quidditch.)_ She caught it with ease, looking a little surprised at his kindness.

Without a word he walked out of the room, leaving her and her orange alone.

Rose looked down at the fruit, and smiled. It was cut into six perfect pieces, just the way she liked it.

--

_A few months later…_

People gawked at the two people sitting under the tree. Out of everybody at Hogwarts, no one expected that Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy would end up being together. Yes, their fights have been rare lately, and they were greeting each other civilly, to the surprise of their friends and (in Rose's case) family. But no one had expected this.

They were talking earnestly, their eyes never straying from each other's faces. There was something new in the blonde man's eyes, something that had been changing, little by little, these past few months. A sort of softness, or kindness, maybe. The redhead looked happier, less rigid, and smiled more often.

When they started kissing, there were a few gasps, and a few glares from Rose's protective family. The couple didn't notice, as they were in their own little world. It was surprising how much had changed since that fateful day.

As he kissed her, (actually, they were getting more into snogging territory by now) Scorpius smiled.

She tasted like oranges.

--

_**Much love and a Scorpius Malfoy to peel your oranges for you,**_

_**-BittersweetSummer-**_


End file.
